Charlotte's First Annual DK3

09/21/2017, 1:30pm CDT

By Kimberly Kasper, NWBA

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO - Saturday, August 16 Charlotte, North Carolina held its first 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball tournament at the Lake Norman YMCA.

The tournament was organized and operated by NWBA Hall of Famer and U.S. Paralympian Dave “DK” Kiley, a Paralympic and World Championship gold medalist and coach of the 2012 London U.S. Paralympic Women’s Basketball Team.

First place winners, the Hawks, were Gavin Cloy of Atlanta, Georgia, Felix Penn of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Travis Smith of Winston-Salem, North Carolina defeated the Spurs, Jeff Townsend of Greenville, South Carolina, Daniel Moody of Winston-Salem, South Carolina, and Freddie Smith of Wilmington, North Carolina in a close game of 15-12. Cloy dominated the court, scoring the majority of the points for the Hawks.

Third and fourth place went to the Celtics and Hornets. The Celtics, Tee Foster of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Richard Travis of Charlotte, North Carolina and Candice Law of Huntersville, North Carolina, defeated the Hornets, Michael Hudson of Gastonia, North Carolina, Chandler White of Atlanta, Georgia and Patrick Barnes of Spartanburg, South Carolina 15-11.

Charlotte’s First Annual DK3 consisted of eight teams and 27 players from various locations including Georgia, Alabama, Virginia and North and South Carolina. Some players included former U.S. National Team players Jeff Townsend of Greenville, South Carolina and Gavin Cloy of Atlanta, Georgia.

Sponsors for the event included ABC Medical, Per4max Wheelchairs and various local sponsors. First place prize consisted of a set of Spinergy Wheels, valued over $1000, by Per4Max Wheelchairs. Second- and third- place prizes were a cash value of $1,000 (330 per player) and $300 (100 per player). Fourth-place winners received free registration.

A free-throw contest followed the tournament. It was $5 to register with first place winning $200, second $100, and third $50. Tim Caldwell of Charlotte, North Carolina won first place in the free-throw contest.

For Charlotte's 3-on-3, players registered individually and then were sorted into teams based upon disability, skill level, experience and height. Games were to 15 points or to 20 minutes, whichever came first. Teams were divided into brackets Round Robin style and guaranteed at least five games. The teams were evenly matched with no team advancing undefeated.

Registration was $25 per player and encompassed registration, a jersey, a hat, and lunch.

Charlotte’s DK3 Tournament was inspired by DK. DK has successfully held 3-on-3 tournaments in Dallas, TX for the past 14 years. Now that Dallas and Charlotte are successfully running, he is looking to expand to Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, IL.

“I think it’s important to look back at the last 14 years in Dallas with the vision in mind to expand nationally!” DK said in an interview.

DK is looking forward to the 15th Annual DK3 Tournament in Dallas this spring which is to be the biggest tournament yet.